posted
I work at a bookstore and after just being promised more hours by my managers, our recent sales report is looking pretty bad so the payroll just took a nose dive. I'm not really looking for a second job right now since I'm trying to get the last of my work done so that I can graduate in May. But my paychecks no longer cover my bills and I'm picking up all the loose change I can find so that I have gas for my car.
A coworker recommended that I work as an elections commissioner. Its only a few Saturdays a year and he gets a couple hundred dollars for each day he works. Unfortunately, our parish requires a short training class which won't be offered again till August, which will be good later but not much help now.
In college, I was a test room supervisor for the ACT which was good money for a half-day of work. But I got the job because my roommate's mother was the test site coordinator and the staff is usually just their friends. And I don't know who I would contact in our area to see if they need any help.
Are they any similar jobs that I can apply for? I'm not looking for a major time commitment, just something to help supplement my income so I can stop paying the cashiers at Shell and Exxon with nickels and dimes?
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
Tutoring. Hands down the best money you can get with completely flexible hours. If you're intelligent, have people skills and an excellent academic record, you can make upwards of $150 an hour tutoring high school kids.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
If you're a hoarder of books and DVDs, like me (which probably indicates why I have money problems), sell some on the electronic bay. Quick fix, and temporary, but it might help.
Posts: 3852 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
Plasma is out since I got a tattoo in September and there's usually a one-year wait requirement. Besides, I barely make it through blood donations without passing out. I don't like needles.
Who should I contact about tutoring? The schools themselves, tutoring agencies, or just put an ad in the paper? I did some tutoring before, for elementary age kids, when I was in college and considering a degree in teaching. It wasn't for me but it could be a good temporary gig. And my boyfriend is a teacher so I have free advice from him.
posted
Aside from going out and doing manual labor, I think the best ones have been mentioned. If you have any skills like playing an instrument--teach lessons (an easy 40 bucks an hour or more). E-bay is a great idea, better than the pawn shop. Babysitting is a good one that allows you to get schoolwork done while you make money. I made a lot of money fixing computers around campus when I was an undergrad. They were always offering money for psychology studies and surveys--go to student services and they often have things like that to help bring in extra money.
And believe it or not, $150 for tutoring isn't a typo. You guarantee a grade bump on the next test/paper, and people will pay it. Especially rich, desperate slackers who are in their 6th year Posts: 1314 | Registered: Jan 2006
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"And believe it or not, $150 for tutoring isn't a typo. You guarantee a grade bump on the next test/paper, and people will pay it. Especially rich, desperate slackers who are in their 6th year"
posted
Another idea, though not steady work, is a test administrator for tests like the SAT.
Have you ever waited table? Serious cash flow if you have experience, and in a good place, which is harder to get into, even one night a week would help put some cash in your pocket.
Plain old "I can do this for you" work. Elderly people need things to be done all the time, and "kids these days" just aren't around to hire. Mowing lawns, shoveling sidewalks, going shopping.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
Strangely, I have people willing (and it was their idea!) to buy the bread I make on the weekends. Apparently giving out free samples is good advertising.
Posts: 2849 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
Crossing guards in my area make $25 an hour. That would be a good way of making extra cash if it didn't conflict with your normal work hours.
EDIT: This may be lower or higher depending on where you live. The average teacher salary in my area is significantly above the national average so it's possible that $25 is at the high end of the spectrum.
Posts: 1327 | Registered: Aug 2007
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Edit to add: NVM, I think its a typo, some googling online shows that $15 is rather common.
No, it's not a typo. It's pretty easy to get overpaid for tutoring, depending on the subject, area, your qualifications and people skills.
The very least amount of money I knew people tutored for (here, in Seattle, for high school kids) was about $75/hour.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Elizabeth: "And believe it or not, $150 for tutoring isn't a typo. You guarantee a grade bump on the next test/paper, and people will pay it. Especially rich, desperate slackers who are in their 6th year"
Prove it, please.
Let's see...
One of my friends tutored a kid for the SAT's. The kid was consistently scoring 600-700 (under the older, 1600 max system). He promised a four figure score, showed his own SAT scores (a better than average but definitely not exceptional 1350) to prove he had the brains to do it, and the parents paid him $400/month for one hour each Saturday. When their son brought home a ~1100 on the next SAT, they gave him a $2,500 bonus. When their friends found out about it, they all wanted him to tutor their kids, but he valued his weekends too much to sacrifice more than a couple of hours a Saturday (he preferred to be stoned), so he farmed it out to other people.
Asian families especially will pay top dollar if you can produce results.
While I was in school, I was personally paid up to $300 to read over a 5-10 page paper and offer very basic suggestions (grammar! Effective sentence structure!). I funded all of my DJ gear and thousands of dollars of vinyl this way. Private school kids! Gotta love 'em.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Shanna: Who should I contact about tutoring? The schools themselves, tutoring agencies, or just put an ad in the paper?
Friends with kids, neighbors with kids, college newspapers, high school newspapers that accept advertising, Craigslist, college study areas e.g. libraries, anywhere there's a community bulletin board, dorms, used book stores, 24 hour restaurants & coffee shops in your area.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
Jeez. Apparently, I am in the wrong line of work!
(I am a teacher)
My dad taught at a private school in Phoenix. He would always stay after school, and be there early. Some of his colleagues tutored kids after school (at the time they were expected to be there, anyway) and charged fifty dollars an hour. So, I am sure it is possible, but not in all cases, and 150 would be too much to expect at first. (especially if you don't live near a lot of wealthy people, but many of you do)
It is a good way to make money, but for me? Too boring. I think I remember Icarus saying the same thing. I know my dad feels the same way. Tutors and substitutes, I feel, are a special entity. I used to love working one:one with kids. Now, it makes me want to jump out the window. I like my students in noisy packs.
I see the people who are subs, and man are they amazing. They choose to be a sub for a living. They know all the kids, they have their own rules, and they come with their own set of strategies for teaching and managing behavior. They amaze me.
Really good tutors are also amazing. They do not just help with homework, but have a plan to fix the underlying problem . They use the time for interaction, not just a "here, do this" approach. That is not worth 150 dollars!
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
Yeah, I can't afford children ... I'm just glad that I never had to use a tutor outside of school (and I would guess that my parents were glad too). Yikes.
$50, I've heard of, but $150? Thats crazy talk. In my personal monetary scale, thats like a whole half of a Wii or 1.5 university textbooks Posts: 7593 | Registered: Sep 2006
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posted
Think about how much people pay for Kaplan courses and the like--and like I said, it's not for poor people. Some rich people like paying extra for "less work". Especially when you get into the extremely difficult upper-level courses like P-chem and Physics, money isn't an issue when it comes to passing the course.
Posts: 1314 | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
In my experience watching madcap comedies, there's always a quick way to make a lot of money, as long as you don't mind wackiness ensuing.
You could enter a golf tournament with a hockey stick, open a revenge-for-hire business, kidnap a rich person's dog, become a male gigolo, pretend to be your roommate so that you can get a substitute teaching gig, put a mouse in a beer bottle and sue the company, get a cable access show, or buy a local broadcast network and staff it with your nuttiest friends.
Really, the possibilities are endless.
Posts: 2804 | Registered: May 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Strider: seems like if you could make that much tutoring, EVERYONE would do it.
To address this one:
1) Tutoring isn't steady work. 2) $150 an hour isn't very useful if you only get to work 1-4 hours a week. 3) As specified in my original reply, there are a lot of prerequisites to being a good tutor. Look at how much money you can make founding companies like Google. Why isn't everyone doing that?
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
I paid $50 an hour for tutoring, but she had a Master's degree in the subject. She usually charged between $50 and $75 (the higher rate being for slackers whose rich parents were paying for it (she didn't say it in so many words) ). This is in northern Virginia, home to the two richest counties in the country.
I'd love to see some proof for the $150 an hour rate.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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quote:Originally posted by katharina: I'd love to see some proof for the $150 an hour rate.
I've already referenced that proof in this thread. If you're going to call me a liar, be straightforward about it and say "you're a liar," please.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Edit: No. Why would I need it? I know what I made, and what my friends made. Given that tutoring is usually a cash under the table transaction, I'm not sure what proof you're expecting.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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This person only charges $10 a paper to look it over. For the record, I think he's way undercharging - it should be at leat four times that. You think it should be 30 times that, apparently. http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/res/575640423.html
A "in search of a tutor - willing to pay $150 an hour" ad would do perfectly as proof. Heck, I'd be satisfied if you could show me a published rate of at least three digits.
posted
Back it up, because if your vaunted salesmanship bears any resemblance to your posting style, you're not persuasive.
I think you're lying. Either you're making up the entire instance, or else on the slight chance you did get paid what you said you did, you threw in writing the paper as well as editing it.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
Apparently - that's what happens when you are unable to back up your strutting. Of course you don't have any credibility either.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
You have no credibility on this subject at all. With anyone.
Maybe not. Maybe there is someone out there who, against all evidence, is so impressed by your posting style that they believe you BS your way into regularly earning double the highest published rate.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
I believe it is probably possible to get that sort of rate in specific, very limited circumstances (most of which are awfully close to emotional blackmail and/or being paid to help someone cheat). I don't believe claiming otherwise (which eros certainly implied initially) is accurate or useful.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
I charged $12/hr for tutoring Ancient Greek (a year ago) and was considered absurdly cheap. The Latin tutors hated me.
A friend of mine is tutoring HS Algebra and is charging $40/hr.
I've never heard of three-figure/hr rates, but I don't doubt it - and I'd love to find someone willing to pay that for what I've got to tutor. Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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posted
For the record, I do in fact believe that certain people would be willing to pay $150. However, I do believe that it is crazy, and I would like to meet such people and make money off them. Preferably behind a protective glass barrier though Posts: 7593 | Registered: Sep 2006
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For more advanced subjects - like chemistry or complex math - in upscale areas, tutors associated with the Princeton Review and other big deal agencies can hit up to $300 an hour. I know a guy who worked for them, but he did history, and was occasionally snide about how much more the hard sciences folks got.
In the DC area, for example, 'premier' chemistry tutors get around $3000 for ten hours. The low end folks get $1000.
Posts: 794 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
You have zero understanding of how pricing dynamic works.
Examples A, C and D all appear to do this professionally: as in, tutoring appears to be their sole source of full time income. This means that they need to publish an advertised rate and stick to it, and the rate needs to be low enough to attract a very large volume of stable, repeat business. They're seeking to establish credibility, so they'll be able to continue doing this for years--probably the rest of their lives.
There's a huge difference between people like those and people like me and my friends, who were primarily interested in short-term, high paying gigs. For people like us, publishing your rates is a pretty stupid idea. Why artificially cap the amount of money you can make?
Do you know how I first got approached about revising a paper? Someone who read my Xanga and thought highly of it needed help with his CAS105 (Intro to Writing & Reasoning in the College) paper because he was consistently doing terribly. I told him I didn't have time to help him (I didn't). He said he would pay me. I said it didn't matter, because I simply didn't have the time. Then he said he'd pay me all the cash he had on him to do it, leafed out about $400, and suddenly it was worth cutting a class to spend the hour on revising his paper instead.
I didn't care whether he'd find out, two days later, that another guy smarter than me would've been willing to do it for a tenth of the money. It didn't matter to me.
My friend got the gig in my first example by making small talk with the guy who served him his teriyaki every day. The guy, in the course of ordinary conversation, brought up his stupid kid. My friend mentioned that he's a math major at UW, and could probably help him out (my friend, at this point, was thinking "free teriyaki"). He talked about the SAT prep work he'd done in the past (read: he took an SAT prep class in high school). The guy offered him the $400/month for one hour per Saturday if my friend could guarantee a significant increase.
The common factor, here, is that we didn't present a price up front, and never did later, either: to do so in any informal business setting without first feeling out what the person is willing to pay is shooting yourself in the foot.
It's the same reason why, when Radiohead released In Rainbows, they ended up making more per digital download sale than they would've selling it for $9.99 in iTunes. Letting the customer determine the price based on perceived value allows you to make WAY more money.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
Is that how much the Princeton Review charges, or is that what the tutors earn? Is is the tutors with the Princton Review that get that?
----
I understand perfectly how that kind of thing works. However, you presented tutoring as option to the opening poster and you said it pays that much if "you're intelligent, you have people skills and an excellent academic record."
Now you're saying that if you're in the right place at the right time and someone is desperate enough, you can make a lot as a one-off.
I know someone that once got a $300 tip while working as a waitress. That doesn't mean that waitressing pays $300 an hour and it would highly irresponsible for someone to say so.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
The guy I know took home around 2/3 of what he charged. Fair, I thought, because he does nearly all the work. The Princeton Review's (in this incarnation) kind of like a talent agency that administers tutor training programs to their clients.
Posts: 794 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote:Originally posted by katharina: I understand perfectly how that kind of thing works. However, you presented tutoring as option to the opening poster and you said you regularly get that much.
I know someone that once got a $300 tip while working as a waitress. That doesn't mean that waitressing pays $300 an hour and it would highly irresponsible for someone to say so.
Tutoring is an option. I said I routinely made that much money, and I did. There's no comparison to a once-off tip as a waitress. All you've done here is demonstrate that you really don't understand, at all.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:The guy I know took home around 2/3 of what he charged. Fair, I thought, because he does nearly all the work. The Princeton Review's (in this incarnation) kind of like a talent agency that administers tutor training programs to their clients.
Completely fair, but he's still not getting paid what the tutoring rate is. Most sourcing agencies work like that - they take a cut off the top for doing the overhead and business aspect of it and the rate is much more than if you hire the person providing the service directly.
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If it is such an option for you because of those vaunted people skills (and an option for the opening poster, as you suggested), why don't you do it now? Or do you have a different job that earns you more than $150 an hour?
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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quote:Now you're saying that if you're in the right place at the right time and someone is desperate enough, you can make a lot as a one-off.
quote:If it is such an option for you because of those vaunted people skills, why don't you do it now? Or do you have a different job that earns you more than $150 an hour?
If I didn't know you're at least average intelligence, I'd start to wonder about you. Seriously. It's like you're going out of your way to look stupid.
quote:1) Tutoring isn't steady work. 2) $150 an hour isn't very useful if you only get to work 1-4 hours a week.
The whole point of this thread was "extra income." I did not ANYWHERE say you can make a full time job or a steady/consistent income tutoring.
And yes, my time is worth more than $150/hour.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
The personal insults are unbecoming to you. Also, lame.
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erso, your opening suggestion was misleading at best and empty strutting at worst. You got called on it.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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